What drives your success?

Hardwork? Luck? Good habits? What would you say is behind your success? We’ve shared some thoughtful responses below.

Sara Mardanbigi | Co-Owner // Operations of Nixta Hospitality, LLC

There are two important factors behind my personal and professional successes: 1. Always staying true to myself and listening to my intuition. There are going to be a lot of opinions flying your way to consider. While some of them are worth serious consideration, at the end of the day, you are responsible for making choices that best reflect your gut instincts. 2. Gearing up for a lot of hard work. Nothing happens overnight, so you gotta work at it every single day without any expectations or entitlement. Read more>>

Sierra Lewis | Online Lifestyle Shop Curator

The most important factor behind my success is my ability to persevere. Building a successful small business takes time, dedication, and a lot of hard work. Success doesn’t come overnight, and it’s not guaranteed to stay around when you do achieve it. On a daily basis I need to have the confidence to strive towards my dream AND to successfully share my vision with others. It’s a commitment like very few others I’ve made in life—and it has its share of hardships—but I’m dedicated to seeing my dream come to fruition. Read more>>

Shauntavia Ward | Nurse Entrepreneur & Founder of EleMINT Skin — OR– Nurse Entrepreneur

Clarity! The single, most important factor behind my success, is clarity. Clarity didn’t come natural to me. It wasn’t a quality I possessed in the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey. In fact, I learned through the experience of worry and indecisiveness, how powerful clarity actually is. Clarity can make the difference between failure and success. Approaching tasks with a focused mind and getting clear on my goals, gave me deeper appreciation for the process of both, life and business. I’ve learned that clarity is a connectedness that increases trust and ultimately builds relationships. Clarity reveals purpose, which for me, is the foundation of success. Because I believe success is an attainable alignment facilitated by clarity. Honing clarity means having peace. Displaying clarity means exuding confidence. Knowing clarity means knowing your worth. The single, most important factor behind my success and development as a woman and entrepreneur, is clarity. Read more>>

Ty Morrison | Wine Blogger & Consultant

When I think back to the success I’ve had in school, throughout my career, and with my passion project Your Glass or Mine, it all stems from my drive and work ethic. Since I was a little girl, my mother has always pushed me out of my complacency. For example, when I was in high school she never let me settle for any grade below a B. She’d sign me up for a tutor or make me visit the teacher after school. She’d do whatever it took to help me better apply myself. And, when I put in that extra work, I’d see those grades improve. Although, I wasn’t always the perfect student, I always gave it my all and did what I had to do to position myself for success. It’s that same drive that I’ve carried with me into my career and honestly everything that I do. And one other thing that’s worth mentioning when it comes to the success of Your Glass or Mine is coming to terms with owning who I am and what I bring to the table. There’s a lot of people on the gram who love and talk about wine. It’s easy to get discouraged when you’re trying to find your place. Read more>>

Nancy Leeds Gribble | Healthy Lifestyle Expert/Weight Loss Specialist

One of the most important factors behind my success and the success of my brand is that I truly believe it all starts with love – a love for ourselves, our health, our life. I coach from the perspective of “what’s right with you” and not “what’s wrong with you that needs to be fixed”. We didn’t get as far as did not knowing how to achieve things in our life, but somewhere along the line taking care of ourselves got put on the back burner, for many different reasons. My clients are women over 40 who want to reclaim feeling their absolute best and create a body and life they love living in. I believe in what is possible for many of my clients, even before they do, and love to hold that vision for them and watch them achieve what they once thought was impossible. They know I care about them, their journey, and getting the results they desire. I have one main goal and that is to get them to theirs. Read more>>

Andi Ruth Johnso | Licensed Therapist and Certified Coach

There are a few core aspects that I believe have contributed to my success, but focusing on service has to be the greatest factor. As entrepreneurs, we have a tendency to make our businesses about ourselves. After all, our business is our baby! To all the entrepreneurs out there: Lovingly and respectfully, it’s not about you. What do I do when I’m tired, when I’m scared, when I doubt myself, or when perfectionism creeps in? I take action anyway, because someone needs me to. When you focus on serving others, you become resilient. You put your ego aside, you and realize those hearts on your Instagram posts are real human heartbeats. Connect with those humans, understand their needs, and serve them. Again, it’s about them, not you. Read more>>

Alya Skye | Author, Writer, & Poet

I attribute my current success and the success to come, off of what I like to call: My three P’s to become what I want to be. The first, and most important, is prayer. I cannot build upon this career without its proper foundation. It can become difficult somedays in taking credit for my own success or how far I’ve come. When in reality, the only reason I am where I am, is because of God. Every idea birthed, every story developed within my thoughts, and every word written, was brought to fruition after prayer. I pray for Him to guide my thoughts, bless me with opportunities, and provide me with the tools to bring my words to life. The second “P” is patience. This follows directly after prayer because not all of the time does God answer when I want Him to. One major key lesson I learned throughout my process in building my brand as Alya Skye, is that He tested my patience through my failures. How bad did I want this? What was I willing to sacrifice to achieve my goals? Would I be willing to work at this every day? Did I have the drive to keep pushing when the light at the end of the tunnel seemed dim? There were many nights were I allowed negativity to get the best of me. Read more>>

Kelly Markgraf | Founder, TEEMA TEAS

By far the largest contributor to the success of TEEMA TEAS is the authenticity of our story. No other tea or beverage brand is focusing exclusively on partnering with one farmer, so that’s something that we pride ourselves on — something that truly sets us apart. We’re honored to work so closely with the plantation, and love that we are able to give back to social initiatives on the farm. Plus, our teas are organically focused, direct-trade, and entirely picked by hand, so our customers know that they are taking part in a very human story: a story of care & cultivation followed by craft and attention to excellence. The final chapter in our brand story is that we give back to a leading micro-loan organization (Grameen America) that helps disadvantaged women break the poverty cycle by starting their own small businesses. They are doing amazing work here in Houston. Read more>>

Monique L Muhammad | CEO/Vegan Chef

The most important factor behind my success is character… your character can make or break you.. you have to be honest with yourself first.. before anyone. Read more>>

Melody Afkami | CEO and Founder of Melody DanceFit

The most important factor behind my brand is the messaging. Sure, it’s a high intensity dance fitness class that will burn around 400-700 calories each class, but the physical aspect is hardly emphasized. I’m more interested in helping students accept and embrace themselves for who they already are. I believe that dance is extremely healing, but only if you are willing to let go and be present. Dance has a powerful ability to get to the truth of where you are, and if you’re open to it, it can be a very cathartic experience. I want everyone in class to feel seen and most importantly, I want to remind them of their power within, As humans, we tend to be overly critical of ourselves, and my mission is to help people be more gentle with themselves. Some fitness brands focus on physical results and that is great, but this isn’t a workout class that’s only focused on getting you abs or a bigger butt. I enjoy those kinds of workouts too, but the fitness industry is already saturated with various workouts labeled “Get Abs in Two Weeks!” and that’s just not where my passion lies. Read more>>

Kahila Hedayatzadeh | Therapist/Coach

Tenacity. The journey to success, regardless of the goal, will require certain determination, persistence, and a clear vision of your purpose. The path is never easy, but when you have a clear vision of how this goal will change not only your own life but also the life of those people you come in contact with you will continue to move through the challenges and the discomfort without hesitation. The end goal is always greater than the presenting challenges. I have continued to remain true to who I am and why I started a nontraditional practice. I am a therapist, however, I focus on coaching my clients using a multidisciplinary approach because it allows me to help my clients in a nonconforming manner and has proven to be extremely successful for all my clients. Read more>>

Jordan Davis | Life Coach & Mentor

Do what you love and love what you do. If you don’t love doing it for free you won’t love doing it for a fee. My products serve to help and heal people. Success to me is being wiser than I was yesterday. Read more>>

Perry Westman | Elite Health Coach & Eco-Entrapanuer

Where i come from and the testimony i have of overcoming child abuse and being adopted, to overcoming drug addiction and falling from a second story window and being told by the doctors i needed back surgery or i would be in a wheelchair by the age of 30 …which is a long story! But If I had to choose one thing it would be “the vision”. Our mission for the world is the most important factor in the success of our business/brand! We aim for change by educating and empowering others to completely eliminate plastic water bottles & chemical cleaners from their life forever, and become fully financially free simultaneously ! We are a part of a 47 year old Health & Wellness company from Japan and have created a global impact of True Health & Wealth through a simple switch in lifestyle. Read more>>